Coming together
Fresh approaches to engaging neighbors of other faith traditions
by Christine Hong
Simran Singh, left, talks with Christine Hong during one of the interfaith dialogues in New York City hosted by the Sikh Coalition and Presbyterian Mission Agency partners.
A year ago, Simran Jeet Singh, senior religion fellow with the Sikh Coalition, and I sat down to share our personal experiences, he as a Sikh American and I as a Korean American Christian. As the Presbyterian Mission Agency’s associate for interfaith relations, I had had many conversations like this one. This time, however, we had an audience.
On three separate occasions in three different Presbyterian congregations, Singh and I held a public interfaith conversation that led into unstructured dialogue and fellowship time with community members. Hosted by the Sikh Coalition, the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations, the Presbytery of New York City, and my own Office of Interfaith Relations, the dialogues explored, among other things, the post-9/11 Sikh experience of hate crimes.
These dialogues were part of a long tradition in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) of advocating positive relationships with people of other religious traditions. Our church has seen these relationships as a response to Christ’s command to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” and to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 22:37, 39).
To fulfill that command, one does not have to be an expert in different religious traditions and histories. All that is required is genuine curiosity, love of people, a willingness to listen, and a commitment to Christian witness.
When we engage in interreligious relationships out of love and respect for the other person, we grow in our own faith, dignify the image of God in the other, and build a more peaceful community.
How do we get started?
Start your congregation in interfaith relations by identifying the places where congregants are (or could be) engaging people of different religious traditions. These might include family life, work, school, situations of conflict or human need (such as hunger), community sports leagues or voluntary associations, local advocacy or service projects, and mission and evangelism.
Learn more
Go to pcusa.org/interfaith for a number of helpful resources, including the Interreligious Stance of the PC(USA) and guides pertaining to respectful presence, children of interfaith families, interfaith marriage, and interreligious initiatives.
Here are a few other helpful resources:
God beyond Borders: Interreligious Learning among Faith Communities by Sheryl Kujawa-Holbrook (Cascade Books, 2014)
How to Be a Perfect Stranger: The Essential Religious Etiquette Handbook by Stuart Matlins and Arthur Magida (Skylight Paths, 2010)
My Neighbor’s Faith: Stories of Interreligious Encounter, Growth, and Transformation by Jennifer Howe Peace, Or Rose, and Gregory Mobley (Orbis Books, 2012)
You can also visit the multimedia interfaith project ravelunravel.com or check out Deily, a comprehensive online platform for sharing texts and ideas of different religions: deily.org.
To contact the Office of Interfaith Relations: 800-728-7228 x5045
Once you’ve assessed, start direct engagement. If your congregation, for example, has been involved in an interfaith food bank, ask members how they could deepen their engagement. Working to deepen ongoing engagements is a great way to affirm positive interfaith action and enrich existing relationships.
If you have no existing connections, you can still join the movement. For congregations in areas where interreligious diversity is lacking, for instance, start with the basics. Set aside time for interested persons in your congregation to explore different religious traditions using books and online media. Invite guest speakers. But make sure you don’t get stuck at this stage. Keep working to move on to the next level of engagement: face-to-face relationships. Soon enough, your neighborhood will change to make this possible.
A wonderful way to start this process is to engage and support PC(USA) mission coworkers. Mission coworkers live in religiously diverse contexts and can teach us much. They can even come and speak with your congregation. Learn more: pcusa.org/missionconnections.
As you seek out new ways to talk about interfaith relationships, remember that the demographics of our nation’s communities are always changing. In fact, yours may already have far more religious diversity than you know. Not all houses of worship are visible. Some groups, for instance, gather in homes or schools. And in communities where certain religious traditions are still not openly welcomed, groups may indeed be trying to remain invisible.
When presenting opportunities for interfaith engagement to a congregation, be sure to back up your appeal by explaining why these relationships are central to our Christian witness. For help, see the Interreligious Stance of the PC(USA), which includes a section on biblical foundations and another on the history of interfaith relations in the church.
Christine Hong is the associate for interfaith relations for the Presbyterian Mission Agency.
Key concepts
1. Put people first. We relate first to people, not to religions themselves.
2. We all carry assumptions. Do the work of unpacking and acknowledging your assumptions while listening attentively to people of other religious traditions.
3. Religion, race, ethnicity, dis/ability, and other markers of identity are interwoven. Seeing them as separate prevents engagement with the whole human experience.
4. No tokenism! Individuals represent their personal religious beliefs and experiences, not the whole range of their religious tradition. It is impossible for one person to speak on behalf of an entire religion. So don’t ask someone to do so.
5. Christian history includes violence and oppression, an ugly legacy that still entangles racial-ethnic communities and people of other faiths. We are not free to wipe our hands of this legacy so long as these neighbors remain caught up in it.
Ideas for interfaith gatherings
1. Share meals. Plan and share a meal with another house of worship.
2. Share stories. Invite interfaith partners to share their stories of faith with your community, and offer to share some of yours.
3. Share in service. Volunteer to provide childcare, parking spaces, or other needs for a faith community celebrating a religious occasion or holiday.
4. Volunteer together. Join an ongoing interfaith service project in your neighborhood, or start one after assessing your community’s needs.
5. Read together. Start or join a book club with another faith community.
6. Share space. If you can, offer space to religious neighbors should they need it.
7. Create networks. Work with interfaith neighbors to create a network that can respond quickly to tragedy.
8. Share in prayer or celebration. Interfaith prayer and celebrations, when planned appropriately, can be a wonderful way to share our deepest convictions and joys.
9. Connect with the Office of Interfaith Relations. Let us set up a workshop for your congregation and share our programs and resources with you (pcusa.org/interfaith).
